I'm all done with my Christmas shopping! Yeah!

Hello everyone!

I had a very nice weekend. Friday evening I went over to Elaine and Gina’s house. Elaine and I played cards and she made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Gina, John and Wampler were staying home and watching movies while Elaine & I went to our friend Carrie’s holiday party. She lives in Sellwood in a great house with a huge backyard. There is a creek running through the yard with a small footbridge crossing over to a massive garden. On the other side of the creek is also a small two room house (no kitchen or bathroom) shared by a couple. We spent almost the whole night hanging out in the back patio area around the warm fire. A six piece jazz band set up and played in the living room into the wee hours. The keg of Blue Heron Ale was kicked pretty early on. Our friend Brian & Kendon showed up and joined around the fire. It was a really fun night and a frosty drive home.

Saturday I was determined to finish up my Christmas shopping. I went to Hawthorne to get some things at Powell’s Books and a few other shops. The area was crammed with shoppers everywhere and I was happy to finish what I had to do and get out of there. I dropped my stuff off at home then went over to Elaine & Gina’s house. The girls were cooking up a big dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli and a huge salad. Dave and Camille both came over for dinner also and it was delicious! We cleaned up after dinner then headed downtown to Suki’s. Our friend Jamie was throwing a surprise party for her husband, Andy. Camille needed to be there early to decorate the space. At 9 o’clock karaoke began but our few participants wanted to wait until Andy & Jamie had arrived. Andy’s birthday is on December 23rd so he was complaining that he never gets to do something with all his friends on his birthday since it’s so close to Christmas. They showed up and Andy was genuinely shocked. Jamie had successfully surprised her husband for his 30th birthday. Jamie pulled off a similar party for Camille’s birthday in February. She’s sneaky!

Dave did a fantastic version of Joe Cocker’s “A Little Help From My Friends” and Camille did “I Touch Myself “ and “Zombie”. We all sang Happy Birthday and later cut the cake before heading home. It was an amusing night. I love surprises like that.

Sunday I drove downtown to volunteer at the museum. It was still quite busy but not nearly as insane as the last time I’d volunteered. I had a great time talking with a new volunteer who does infrared photography. After my shift was over I went over to the new wing of the art museum and walked through the photography exhibit. I then drove towards home, stopping at Mt Tabor Park on the way to take pictures of Mt Hood looking exceptionally lovely in the afternoon light. I’ve been following the story closely about the missing climbers. They found one of them dead in a snow cave just 300 feet from the summit on Sunday. The other two are still missing and after this long and the week of horrible weather it seems highly unlikely that they have survived. Climbing mountains in December is a particularly risky venture. Sigh.

After leaving Mt Tabor I went to Elaine’s house where I played rummycub with Dave and Elaine. I ate some of their leftovers (mmmmashed potatoes) and got all my photos of my camera. I went home where I wrapped presents while watching the Peanuts Christmas Special. I read my book and tried to go to bed early. I leave on Friday evening for a week in San Francisco with Nandita & Jochem. It should be wonderful!

Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to!

xoxo,
carolyn